#BowTieDay Fundraiser: Skip the Clip Version 2.0

Last year, (2014) a few friends twisted my arm and convinced me to hold a class to teach people how to tie bow ties.  They offered to find a few friends and suggested I charge $50/person that I could donate to the charity of my choice.  The event was a lot of fun and I ended up raising a substantial sum for the Greg Chew Theatre Scholarship, which is named after a dear friend and colleague who taught English and Drama at Urbana High School for 35 years.  I held the event on National Bow Tie Day, and the publicity helped draw in additional dollars.

I was asked to write a post for The Bow Tie Aficionado (@bowtieaficio).  The support from fellow bow tie wearers brought additional publicity, which turned into more funds into the scholarship.

This year the Bow Tie Aficionado asked what I was going to do for an encore.  This year (2015), to celebrate #NationalBowTieDay, I decided that instead of teaching people how to tie bow ties, I would celebrate people wearing them.  I laid out a plan and wrote another post for the Bow Tie Aficionado.

The rules are simple: I will make a donation in honor of every person who sends me a photo of themselves wearing a bow tie on #NationalBowTieDay, August 28, 2015, to the Greg Chew Theatre Scholarship.  If I meet someone in person on August 28 wearing a bow tie, I will increase the donation if they allow me to take a picture with them that I post to Twitter (@dowendo).  The donation will be larger if the bow tie is self-tied.

How can you help?

1. Pledge to sponsor me: You can pledge to make a donation to the Greg Chew Theatre Scholarship - either a flat amount (safer) or a per bow tie amount (risky) - all pledges should be made publicly on Twitter (@dowendo) - but you will be on your honor to donate, which can be done online at The Champaign Urbana Schools Foundation Greg Chew Page.
2. Join in the fun: Tweet me a photo of you wearing your best bow tie on August 28, 2015 (yes, you have to be wearing it on August 28!) to @dowendo with #ChewScholarship or #SkipTheClip.  Even better, try to track me down for a selfie of us both wearing bow ties. 
3. Make a donation: Just make a donation.  The Champaign Urbana Schools Foundation is doing an amazing job of managing the Greg Chew Theatre Scholarship Fund.  

Thank you!

After it is all over, I will post a list of everyone who helped contribute, and I will post my favorite photos.  

Many thanks to The Bow Tie Aficionado, The Champaign Urbana Schools Foundation, and many others for their support of me and the Greg Chew Theatre Scholarship for Urbana High School!

DDO